I haven’t read many issue 0s, so I don’t know if this is how they normally go, but The Star Wars #0 is a neat, behind-the-pages look at the design process for one of the weirdest and coolest books out there. If you are not familiar with the series, it is a faithful adaptation of the first draft of Star Wars. If you haven’t been reading this series, you owe it to yourself to go back and catch up.

So, now that you are caught up and this tired gag is out of the way, you probably agree that the design on this series is super good. The character, vehicle, and environment designs are a wonderful cross between Flash Gordan and Star Wars. This issue shows the careful evolution of this style. It is cool to see the awesomely cheesy initial designs for Luke Skywalker and then see the decisions that led to the incredible version of the character that we got. There is also a page with a mixed baker’s dozen of fighter concepts. They range from interesting twists on the ships from the movies to wild designs that made me grin like a lunatic.

If that wasn’t enough of a pitch, there are some variant covers included that feature these alternate versions of the characters in the classic movie posters from the movies. This alone makes it worth picking this issue up. But wait; there’s more. This issue also includes the pages that were drawn up to pitch the idea for this comic to George Lucas. I cannot tell you how cool this is. These ten pages capture the essence and originality of my favorite fictional universe better than any prequel could.

There is one thing that is missing from this issue. There is no new material. This bonus feature issue will appeal to the completionist and the curious. If you have never put in the second DVD in a deluxe release, you won’t get much from this. If you have watched the (awful) studio cut of Brazil to better appreciate the improvements in the director’s cut, then you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

Four and a Half Concept Sketches for Darth Vader out of Five